As soon as Carla and Bruce had cut the tension and bit the bullet that they'd caught between their teeth, they were on a free fall through life that felt just as exciting and new as it had done when they'd first met, though with a touch less hostility.

They had never been attached at the hip and that didn't change, nor did Carla's independence and her lust for control, though she did catch herself refraining from pushing Bruce's hand away from her thigh beneath the table or from turning her head for his lips to meet her cheek when he tried to kiss her in front of other people.

The hurt still lingered from what he'd done but once Carla accepted him back into her life, the thought of losing him again was far greater than any grudge she held. So although there were nights where she'd find herself on the verge of tears after waking up from another horrific nightmare, she no longer had to sit shivering alone on the bathroom floor to calm herself down, the hands and lips of the man that she loved doing it all for her instead.

Things weren't plain sailing but they hadn't ever been. Carla and Bruce still argued and bickered over stupid things, got mad for what seemed like no reason and even slept in separate beds when their frustration and stubbornness kept them from apologising until the morning after.

It wasn't perfect, but it was real, and neither of them would've changed a thing.

Christmas came and the New Year did too, both Bruce and Carla celebrating their birthdays within the first few months before Winter disappeared and Spring finally settled into the air, bringing with it longer days and warmer sunshine.

It was the beginning of May when Alfred booked a trip to Florence and after some gentle encouragement and a charming smile, Giulia accepted the invitation to accompany him. They weren't exactly going far but it made Carla happy to see her aunt finally doing something for herself, God knows she deserved some happiness after everything they'd been through over the years and it felt right that Alfred was one of the reasons her smiles seemed to last a little bit longer than they once had.

The sun was high in the sky in the early afternoon in May and Carla stormed over to the pool with a face like thunder, her tall shadow looming over Bruce who lay relaxed on a sun lounger, glistening in tanning oil with sunglasses over his eyes.

"You're blocking my sun."

Carla glanced down at the cup of water in her hand. She hadn't intended on throwing it at Bruce but the comment that came from his mouth had irritated her even more highly than she already was, and so after less than a second of deliberation, she threw the water across him and stood back with a dark glare.

"What the fuck?" He whipped off his sunglasses and jolted upright, eyes wide and lips parted as he stared up at her.

Carla didn't bat an eyelid, simply staying fixed to the spot with an unimpressed expression scrawled across her face, placing the empty glass down on a small table beside him.

"I asked you an hour ago to take the champagne from the cellar and put it in the freezer to chill and you haven't. Harvey and Rachel are going to be here any minute, I don't want to have to use to prosecco."

Bruce rolled his eyes and slowly stood up, standing tall over Carla and settling his hands on her hips, pulling her against him despite her trying her best to not touch his soaking chest.

"Harvey wouldn't know good champagne if it hit him in the face, don't worry."

"I don't care," Carla muttered, "I wanted the good champagne."

Bruce grinned and brushed her hair from the side of her face, tilting up her chin and pressing a kiss to her soft lips.

"Then let's save it for ourselves. The last bottle tasted so much better when we drank it after I had you practically whimpering on that sun lounger right there."

Carla didn't let any heat flood her cheeks, eyes remaining dark and un-phased by his attempt at making her swoon with a hot memory from a few days earlier.

"In fact," Bruce pursed his lips and glanced down at the watch on his wrist, "I think I've got enough time to make you come right now if you'll let me."

There weren't many occasions where Carla said no to Bruce's advances and she almost crumbled with weak knees when his hand dropped past her hips to her ass, having to fight to keep her heart calm as he dragged a hot kiss across her neck.

His bronzed skin looked beautiful in the sunlight, scars and all, and although the sight of his chiselled abs and toned arms were enough to sway her most days, his lack of help to prepare the house for their guests had annoyed her too much for her to give him anything back that day.

"Get dressed," she said, grabbing his wrists and prising them away from her body, giving him a gentle shove backwards that coaxed a laugh from his chest, "You look like you're about to start a shift at Abercrombie and Fitch."

Bruce chuckled and shook his head, watching with a lazy smile as Carla walked away from him back into the house. She was still the same cold and slightly intimidating woman that had caught his attention out in the rain over a year ago, but the way she'd softened both inside and out just enough for him to notice hadn't gone unappreciated. He loved the way she held his arm while they walked through town or how he introduced him as her partner whenever they met new people and how sometimes, only sometimes, she would tell him that she loved him with words instead of her eyes.

He did as he was told and pulled on some clean clothes, grabbing two bottles of champagne from the cellar and putting them in the freezer anyway, hoping that better late than never might win him back some points in Carla's book.

She was out on the patio setting the table in a short, white sundress when Bruce wandered outside, taking a moment to admire the view of her from behind as she reached across the table to set down the last of the plates.

He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into his chest, lips kissing her neck as one of her hands reached up behind her and tangled through his hair, the other resting on top of his own as his fingers laced through hers at her hip.

The scent of his citrus-laced sandalwood aftershave lifted a smile onto her face, one that she allowed to stay since Bruce couldn't see. She could feel the soft linen of his shirt against her shoulders and his breath tickled her skin, the smoothness of his freshly shaven jaw making her feel at ease, resting against his chest.

"I'm dressed and the champagne is in the freezer. Do you love me now?"

Carla spun around in his hands and looked up at him with a frown, brows tied together and no hint of a reciprocated smile that Bruce's lips held.

"Shut up and go and unlock the gate."

Bruce just laughed and let go of her, walking through the garden and unlocking the gate just as a car engine came to a stop on the other side. Neither of them had seen Harvey and Rachel in months and while Bruce had spoken to his childhood best friend often after she'd accepted his apology, Harvey hadn't been so warm.

He wasn't particularly nervous to be seeing Harvey but there was an edge of discomfort that started to cut inside Bruce's chest as he stood by the gate with folded arms, painting a smile on his face as Rachel stepped out of the car first, though the anticipation of potentially being greeted with a fist to the face disappeared when Rachel turned around.

"Oh my God, you're pregnant?"

Rachel rolled her eyes and walked over to Bruce, reaching up and wrapping her arms around him with a quiet laugh, "It's good to see you too, Bruce."

"Yeah, no, of course. I just..." Bruce squeezed her and then pulled away, looking at her face and then down at the bump beneath a black shift dress, "I can't believe it. Congratulations, Rachel."

Her smile grew and she embraced him again. Rachel had been seething with just as much anger as Harvey and Carla when she found out the truth about Bruce after the funeral, though discovering that she was pregnant just after the new year brought with it a new appreciation for life and the people that she loved. She wanted Bruce to be a part of her future children's lives regardless of mistakes he might've made, and so for better or for worse, she overlooked their differences.

Harvey on the other hand took a lot more convincing to be so forgiving. He still resented Bruce for not just his lies, but for everything he'd put Carla through since the beginning, though once she reached out to him asking him to come and visit both of them, he knew that as Carla's friend and as Rachel's partner, he had to learn to move forward for everybody's sake.

And so he stepped out of the car into the Sicilian heat with a half-hearted smile on his face and a hand outstretched towards Bruce Wayne, swallowing his pride and avoiding the possibility of any tension straight away by being the bigger person he'd promised himself that he'd be.

"Bruce, how are you?"

Although slightly taken aback at the friendliness from the District Attorney, Bruce inhaled deeply and shook his hand with a smile before he could change his mind.

"I'm good, congratulations, Harvey. We had no idea."

"Well we thought it might be a nice surprise," Harvey shrugged and threw an arm across Rachel's shoulders, "Certainly was to us, anyway. Carla around?"

"Yeah," Bruce nodded towards the house through the open gate, "Go ahead, I'll get the bags. She's been waiting for you."

Carla gently placed down a wine glass she'd just finished polishing when voices travelled through into the garden, a rush of excitement hitting her yet of course, not too much of it reflecting on her face.

She tossed the towel over the back of the chair and didn't wait for Rachel or Bruce to trail down the garden path when she saw Harvey, her eyes lighting up with happiness as he grinned at her, quickening his pace over in her direction with open arms and a heart full of love.

Carla threw her arms around his neck and Harvey lifted her feet off the ground, hugging her tightly and letting out a sigh of relief he didn't know he'd been holding in. He'd missed Carla so painfully much, regretfully so, too. He'd had all intentions of coming to visit sooner but life kept getting in the way and although from their phone calls it seemed like Carla was happy in Sicily, Harvey knew that if anybody could fake their feelings, it was her.

And so he still worried from halfway across the world, still wondered if she was eating and sleeping or if Bruce had done something else to break her heart all over again. Harvey was sure she could handle herself and handle Bruce, but he hated the fact that he couldn't be there as a friend if she really needed him.

The notion had been kicking away in the back of his mind for months but as soon as Harvey walked through those gates and saw Carla's eyes curve with a smile she didn't want to show, he knew that she was absolutely fine.

"I'm so happy to see you, Carla. This place is beautiful, I can't believe you live here."

"Well, there is a world outside of Gotham, did you know that?"

He smiled at her same sharp tongue, "Listen, first things first, I-"

"Oh my God."

Carla's gaze was snatched away from Harvey, Rachel walking into the garden stealing the words from the edge of Harvey's lips before he had the chance to say them. There was something behind Carla's eyes that almost made her look horrified at what she saw, though she soon plastered a smile onto her lips when Rachel stepped onto the patio.

"Hi, Carla."

"I...you..." Carla glanced up at Harvey and then back at Rachel, "What?"

She just laughed and shrugged, "Surprise."

"Yeah, it is," Carla spluttered out a laugh and kicked herself into stepping forward and giving Rachel a warm embrace, still unable to believe her own eyes, "Congratulations, both of you. This is crazy."

Bruce dragged two suitcases into the kitchen before stepping back out onto the patio, "I actually had some vintage champagne chilling hours ago but it looks like it'll be soda for you, Rachel."

Carla threw Bruce a glare and he caught it, flashing her a raised brow and a toying smirk in return. She rolled her eyes and felt a jab in her ribs from Harvey's elbow, looking up at him as he said, "More for us, right?"

"Lord help us if you drink more than you usually do, do you remember that time after work when I had to put you in the back of a cab because you took it too far at happy hour?"

Harvey's jaw dropped and he scowled at Carla who stood with her arms folded and eyes narrowed.

"That is not true. I think if you recall, you'll remember that it was you that got your heel stuck in the grate on the sidewalk and-"

"Oh for the love of God," Rachel scoffed loudly, resting her hands on her hips with a shake of her head, "We've only just got here and you two are already bickering. You're going to make me go into labour four months early with this racket, the last thing we need is two screaming babies added to the mix."

Carla and Bruce's eyes widened and their lips parted as they spoke in sync, "Two?"

Harvey slipped an arm around Rachel's waist, looking down at her with happiness reflecting in his eyes and lifting his cheeks.

"Yeah, we're having twins."

Carla's mouth hung open and she stared across the patio at Harvey, "There's going to be two of you?"

"Isn't that great? They'll want to come and stay with Auntie Carla and Uncle Bruce all the time," He mused with a knowing smirk, laughing to himself as Rachel looked up at him with a blasé smile.

The shock that had consumed Carla had also taken over Bruce, both of them standing with horror-stricken faces at the thought of two children tearing apart the tranquility of their secluded mountain-top home. They were happy for their friends, of course they were, but it suddenly pushed a thought into the front of both of their minds that they'd never spared a moment to consider before, a future that they'd not looked into.

"Bruce," Carla turned to him and wrapped her hand around his bicep, snapping out of the shock and lightening her tone a dash of playfulness, "I think we will need a glass of that champagne after all."

He sighed with a forced chuckle and nodded in agreement, "I'll bring the bottle, angel."

an;;
hiiii you have no idea how happy I am to be able to write about characters that don't hate each other anymore omg I'm sorry for the stress I've dragged you all through😭 I hope you've enjoyed the last few chapters anyway, I still can't thank you enough for all the kind and supportive comments you keep leaving, they really do mean the world!!
Sorry if this chapter was a *little bit* uneventful, there's still a few left before I plan on tying up this story so more updates will be coming very soon!!